Lapping machine



Aug. 27, 1946. H. SplNDGE ETAL 2,406,690.

ILAPPING MACHINE Filed Oct. 9, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HERBERT S. IND E@songs E. HuLBER-r g 27, 1946- H. s. INDGE .ET AL I 2,

I LAPPING' MACHINE Filed Oct. 9, 19 14 2 Sheets Sheet 2 Flc Z HERBERT S./NDE Cizonqs E. HULBERT.

Patented Aug. 27, 1946 UN TED Her ert S,- Indee a d ge E- IiulliertWest: V j $1 4 Worcester; Mass'., a corporation of lu assa n5 bpro, M

ews

Com

emer e were w elds 55 253.

6-Qlaims.-

This inv nt re a es. w abre n mawie e d m P t a t9 m nnin mach ne ie lpp n a la e a e Qf re a ive S ll WQIK piece-s. v i ne Object of heventien is t Pr de. a m l nd thoroughly pra t lappin mac ine for lappinga plane face on a worl; piece; Another bj t of't e nvezit bn is to' PFQYQ? a la time mahin or l p i g a l neife e 9n w t piece, in ch a'v h'wo pece i nde e den l ed l aintai ed. n Qn raiiv ngaee n wi h e ers. e ra ie ap i ement- Another object oi'the invention is tdplQYlple a lappingmachine with a work driving head having a plurality of rotatable "worlgdriving spindles hich a a ang o ha t y m b 3 4" pendently moved toengage and drive a-work piece for a lapping'operatidn.

A iurther object f the invention is to provide a lapping machine with awork" driving mechanism includin'g a plurality ofp'osi'tivelv matedworkdriving 'spindles'each of which may be independently" moved to' and froman" operative position to faoilitate loadingand unloading work pieces. Afurtherobject of the invention is to provide a lapping machinewith a,work driving head "having a plurality of positively driven work rotatingand driving spindleain which the head is arranged so that it maybeindexed to facilitateloadingand unloading-'work pieces. Other ob jectswill be in part obvious or in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations 'ofelements, and arrangements of parts, aswill be,exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described, and thescope'of the application of which will be indicated in the. followingclaims. s

One embodiment .of' this invention has been illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which like reference numerals indicate likeparts.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation ,of the improved lap;

andclriving mechanism and the lapping wheel;

and

Fig. 3.1 va, fragmentary detail View. of lthe latchi mechanism forholding .the work driving head against rotation during the normallapping. op

eration.

(Glen-119i sun or; ior a o atahle' ap supporting pla en H a? rk'head'l2- *supnortine p ate 4/ .i i filly 'pb ted ax ei ahle' me r whic ev iwt e u pe en o f sleeve 14- vie mehga sm p o idai er he a he an e e ri mo the base I? i the e pivotally mounted m7 art? he meter 0 is r v ded,wit

1' Flier w .h s. q j inel ied'bv e n P wit a mil er T pulley i i r iet he'shal i .25.- h sha 25 -1s 'prdvidied with a worm ZSwhi h in turnmes-hearth a'wrm gear 21. The we s eyed to the w r an. f he. s ee 1be'readily apparentfr s r. the i r 3 DIatenT-IL; A lapping plate 015provided which rests upon the upper suIr'i-ace'of laten l I: In ordeftopifod-iio'a predeterminedapping'action, the laping. plate is prefer 1not only rotated'but also is fgive'n 'a combined rater-yamgyratingmovement to impart the de red lapping" action to the workpieces brapped. A plurality of syn-in ietriealliarra"ged driving pins}! and 32(pg eiablytnre em firnb'er, only two ofwhich havebeenillustratedFigs. l.and 2) are pro- Videdtb 'eng ag-e apertur gmth lapping plate 33.Thedrivingpin'so'r studs "31 and '32 are e centrically mounted onrotatable heads andrespeotivelwf a inannerf substantially "the "same asthatshow rfin the exp Ind-ge No. 1,610,52 dated December 14', 1926, to

je idt e p' il b n which reference may behad' for details ofdisclosure'not containea herein. The'hea'djs 3 and .i'farerotatablysupported on'studs '35 (only one of which-has been illustrated I) Therotary heads 33 and 34' are provided" with gears stand 31' whichmesnwitpa' ge'arts. The gear 38 is keved "to. the upper end of a non-1otatal:)leshaft 35. The -Shaft 3B is Contained Within a. hollow. aperture ifi thesleeife i'a'rid is supported atits low-er end by' means of a bracket 3 9which is fixedrelative to the-housing H. Y {Ihe geais 3t and 321 alsomesh withananhular internal ring abovedescribed to'rotate Y i-red 'o; s.patent to H. s.

gear ill which is fixedly supported relative to the spider l3. As thespider I3 is rotated by the driving mechanism above described, the ringgear 45) will impart a rotary motion to the gears 36 and 81 to revolvethe eccentric driving studs 8| and 32. During this driving movement, thegears 35 and 3'! roll on the stationary center gear 38. The lappingplate 38 will be given a rotarymotion due to rotation of the lapsupporting platen'll and the heads 33 and 34, and at the same time willbe given a gyrating motion by meansof the revolving driving studs 3! and32.

The work pieces to be lapped are preferably independently rotated whilein engagement with the rotary and gyrating lapping plate 30. The

machine base It) is provided with an upwardly extending column 45 whichserves as a support for an arm 46. The arm 46 is provided with avertically extending cylindrical aperturefl which serves as a bearingsupport for a vertically movable sleeve ZS. The sleeve 48 supports anormally-stationary rotatably-mounted work driving head 49 at its lowerend. The head 49 is rotatably supported by a pair of roller bearings 58and ti on the lower end of the sleeve 48. The head 49 serves as asupport for a, plurality of symmetrically arranged work driving androtating spindles 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 51, 58, 59 and 60. Each of thespindles 52' to 88 inclusive is preferably provided with a drivingmember of'a flexible or yieldable material, such as a flexible softrubber cup 6| which may be held in frictional engagement with a workpiece to be lapped by means of a compression spring 62. The work drivinspindle 52 is supported in spaced antifriction bearings 63 and '64 whichare in turn fixedly mounted in the head 49. The spindle 68 is similarlysupportedin anti-friction bearings 65 and 68. The remaining spindles aresimilarly supported, consequently the details of construction of eachspindle have not been illustrated in the drawings.

A suitable driving mechanism is provided simultaneously to rotate allthe work driving spindles 52-68 inclusive. This mechanism may comprisean electric motor 78 which is mounted on the rear'end of the arm 46. Themotor 18 is provided with an armature shaft H having a multiple V-groovestepped driving pulley 12 mounted thereon. A driving V-belt 13 connectsthe pulley 72 with a multi-V-groove stepped pulley 14 which is keyed tothe upper end of a vertically extending shaft 15. The pulley 14 ispreferabl supportedby anti-friction bearings 16 and l! which are fixedlysupported within a bracket 18. The bracket 78 is fixedly mountedrelative to the arm 46 so as to form a rigid support for the drivenpulley M to prevent the thrust of the driving shaft from being whollytaken up by the shaft 15.

The shaft passes through a central aperture 19 formed within the sleeve48 and is rotatably journalled in bearings 80 and BI which are carriedby the sleeve 48. The lower end of the shaft 75 is journalled in athrust bearing, 82 which is supported by the head 49. A gear 83 is keyedto the lower end of the shaft 15 and meshes with a gear 84 which issupported on a rotatable shaft port for the work rotating and drivingspindle,

52. A drive is provided between the sleeve 88 and the spindle 52comprising a driving pin 89 which is fixed to the spindle 52. Thedriving pin.

4 89 extends through an elongated slot 89a formed in the upper end ofthe sleeve 88.

A' similar driving connection is provided between each of the spindles52 to 651 inclusive (see, for example, spindle 68).

The sleeve 88 is provided with a driving gear 98 which meshes with alarge diameter gear 9!. The gear 9'! is rotatably supported byanti-friction bearings 82 on the sleeve 48. Each of the work rotatingand driving spindles 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 and 68 is provided witha driven gear 93 which meshes with the large gear 9!. These gears 93 areformed integral with the driving sleeves 94 (only one of which has beenillustrated in detail in connection with work driving spindle 88). Itwill bereadily apparent from the foregoing disclosure that rotary motionof the shaft 75 will be transmitted through the gear 83, the gear 84,the gear 86, the gear 81, the driving sleeve 38, and the gear 98, torotate the large gear 9|. The large gear fil meshes with the gear 93 oneach of the remaining work driving and rotating spindies 53 to 68inclusive and will transmit an independent rotary motion to each of thedriving spindles to frictionally rotate a work piece in operativeengagement with the rotary and gyrating lapping plate 38 so as to impartthe desired lapping action to a plane face on the work piece.

Each of the friction driving members 6| mounted on the lower ends of thework driving and rotating spindles 52 to 68 inclusive is arranged sothat it may be moved upwardly to facilitate removal of a finish lappedwork piece and the insertion of a new piece of work to be lapped.

' Each of the spindles 52-60 inclusive is provided with knurled knobs95, 96, 91, 98, 98, I88, I01, I62 and I63, respectively. The knob forthe spindle St is not shownasit is directly behind the sleeve H8 in Fig.2.

When it is desired to remove a finish lapped one of the knobs 95-[03inclusive so as to raise -the frictional driving member 8i from drivingengagement with the work piece being lapped, after which the workpiecemay be removed and a. new work piece inserted in place underneaththe driving memberfil. The spindles 52 to 68 inclusive are raisedasufficient distance so that the driving pins 89 are raised out of theslots 89a, thus disconnecting the spindles so that rotation thereof isstopped during a loading operation. The compression of the spring 82. issufiicient to maintain the driving member Si in frictional drivingrelation with the work piece to be lapped and also to produce thedesired lappin pressure between the work piece and the rotary gyratinglapping wheel 30.

In order to facilitate loading and unloading of work pieces, the head 49is rotatably supported, in the manner above described, on the sleeve 48.The head 49 is provided with a plurality of radially projecting lugsH35, 106 and It? (only three of which have been illustrated in Fig. l).A spring actuated latch I08 is arranged in the path of the lugs I85, I08and Ill! (Figs. 1 and 3). or pawl N38 is pivotally supported on a studI89 which is in turn supported by a pivotally mounted arm Hi]. The armH0 is pivotally supported on a stud i H which is arranged so that thearm I I0 together with the pawl I63 may be swung upwardly out of thepath of the lugs I35, I06 or Nil.v

The arm I I0 is provided witha stop surface H2 which is arranged when inan operative position to engage a stop surface H3 which is fixedlymounted on the column 45, so as to support the The latch pawl H98 in anoperative position. A tension spring H4 is provided normally to maintainthe pawl H18 in an operative position. When it is desired to allow thework head 49 to rotate to facilitate loading or unloading of workpieces, the pawl its is raised out of engagement with the lu I65, afterwhich the rotary, thrust of the driving mechanism above described willcause thehead 49 to rotate. 'Ihe pawl Hi8 is immediately dropped intoposition after this rotary motion has started so that it will engage thenext log on the housing 49. Or, if desired, the pawl may be held out ofth path of the lugs H55, IE6 or it? so that the head may be rotatedthrough so", 186 or more, as desired.

In order to facilitate raising thehead 49 to an inoperative position,the sleeve 48 is provided with rack teeth H5 which mesh with a rotatablepinion I it which may be actuated by a hand wheel (not shown) to raisethe entire work drive head 49 to an inoperative position. Amanually-operable pivotally-mounted holding pawl H! is provided havinggear teeth formed therein which mesh with the teeth on the rack bar 15so that the sleeve it may be held in the desired adjusted position.

In order precisely to locate the head 49 in operative position, apositive stop mechanism may lie-provided comprising a bracket E23 whichis fixed relative to the arm 46 having an upper plane surface whichserves as a positive stop. A'bracket I2! is fixedly mounted relative tothe head it. A stop rod !22 is fixedly connected to the bracket i2l andis provided at its upper end with a stop collar I23 which is screwthreaded onto the threaded end portion I24 of the rod [22. A look collari25 is provided to lock the collar 123 in adjusted position.

The operation of this improved lapping machine will be readily apparentfrom the foregoing disclosure. The lapping machine is set in motion bystarting the electric motors 25 and Ill. The starting of the electricmotor 28 serves in the manner above described to impart a combinedrotary and gyrating movement to the lapping plate so. The starting ofthe electric motor Iii serves to transmit a rotary motion to all thework rotating and driving spindles. In order to load work pieces in themachine, the knobs 95-403 inclusive are independently raised and a workpiece inserted in position under the driving member Bl, after which theknob is released and the released compression of the spring 62 willserve to maintain the driving element iii in frictional drivingengagement with the work piece to be lapped to rotate the work piece inoperative contact with the rotary and gyrating lapping plate 39. Thelapping operation on the work pieces is continued to the desired andpredetermined extent. When it is desired to remove a work piece from themachine, it is merely necessary for the operator to raise one of theknobs 95403 inclusive to withdraw the frictional driving element 6| fromdriving engagement with the work piece, after which the lapped workpiece may be readily removed from the machine and a new work pieceinserted there instead.

After the spindles adjacent to the operators station have been loadedwith work pieces, the latch or pawl I08 may be raised out of engagementwith the lug [05 so as to allow the head 49 to rotate to bring otherwork spindles into position adjacent to the operators station. As abovedescribed, the head 48 may be rotated through either 90, 180 or 270",depending on the operator'holding the pawl H18 out of engagement there.-with until the head 49 has reached the desired position.

' It will thus be seen that there hasbeen provided by'this inventionapparatus in which the various objects hereinaboveset forth togetherwith many thoroughly practical advantages are successfully achieved. Asmany possible embodie ments may be made of the above invention and asmany changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is tobe understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

We claim:

1. In a lapping machine having a base, a lapping wheel having a planeoperative lapping face, means to impart a combined rotating and gyratingmovement to said wheel, a vertically adjustable hollow spindle, a workhead including a plurality of positively rotated work driving spindleswhich is rotatably supported at the lower end of said hollow spindle, aspindle driving mechanism including a drive shaft rotatably supportedwithin said hollow spindle, gearing within said head connecting saiddrive shaft with each of said spindles simultaneously to rotate saidspindles, a yieldable frictional work driving member on each of saidspindles, and independent yieldable means normally'to maintain saidspindles in frictional driving engagement with a work piece to rotatethe same While in lapping engagement with said lapping wheel at apredetermined pressure.

2. In a lapping machine having a base, a lapping wheel having a planeoperative lapping face, means to impart a combined rotating and gyratingmovement to said wheel, a vertically adjustable hollow spindle, a workhead including a plurality of positively rotated work driving spindleswhich is rotatably supported at the lower end of said hollow spindle, aspindle driving mechanism including a drive shaft rotatably supportedwithin said hollow spindle, gearing within said head connecting saiddrive shaft with each of said spindles simultaneously to rotate saidspindles, the thrust of said drive gearing normally tending to rotatesaid work head, a plurality of stop lugs on said head, and a stop pawlnormally to hold said head against rotation, said stop pawl beingpivotally mounted to facilitate indexing the work head for loading andunloading work pieces.

3. In a lapping machine having a base, a lapping wheel having a planeoperative lapping face, means to impart a combined rotating and gyratingmovement to said lapping wheel, a vertically adjustable hollow spindle,a work head rotatably mounted on the lower end of said spindle, aplurality of hollow driving sleeves rotatably supported on said head andhaving their axes parallel to said hollow spindle, a drive shaftrotatably supported in said spindle, gearing within said work headconnecting said drive shaft with each of said driving sleeves positivelyto rotate said sleeves, a work driving spindle slidably'mounted in eachof said sleeves, a yieldable frictional work driving member on each ofsaid spindles, a compression spring normally to maintain said member infrictional driving engagement with the work piece to maintain it inoperative lapping engagement with said lapping wheel at a predeterminedpressure, a driving pin on each of said spindles normally engaging aslot in each of said sleeves to drive said spindles, and a manuallyoperable means including a knob rotatably mounted on the upper end ofeach of said spindles to facilitate 7 moving said spindles independentlyto an inoperative position to facilitate loading and unloading workpieces.

4. In a lapping machine havinga base, a lapping wheel having a planeoperative lapping face, means to impart a combined rotating and gyratingmovement to said wheel, a vertically adjustable hollow spindle, a workhead including a plurality of positively rotated hollow work, drivingsleeves which is rotatably supported at the lower end of said hollowspindle, a sleeve driving mechanism including a drive shaft rotatablysupported within said hollow spindle, gearing within said headconnecting said drive shaft with each of said sleeves continuously torotate all of said sleeves, an axially movable work driving spindlewithin each of said hollow sleeves, a work driving member on each ofsaid work drive spindles, a driving pin connecting each of said spindleswith said sleeves, and independent manually operable means to raise eachof said work drive spindles to disconnect it from its driving sleevewhen it is desired to remove a finish lapped work piece.

5. In a lapping machine having a base, a lapping Wheel having a planeoperative lapping face, means to impart a combined rotating and gyratingmovement to said wheel, a vertically adjustable hollow spindle, a workhead including a plurality of positively rotated hollow work drivingsleeves which is rotatably supported at the lower end of said hollowspindle, a sleeve driving mechanism including a drive shaft rotatablysupported within said hollow spindle, gearing within said headconnecting said driv shaft with each of said sleeves continuously torotate all of said sleeves, an axially movable work drive spindle withineach of said sleeves, a work driving member on each of said work drivespindles, a driving pin on each of said work drive spindles which isengageable with a slot in each of said hollow sleeves, and independentmanually operable means to disengage said drive pin to stop said workdrive spindle to facilitate removal of the finish lapped work piece.

6. In a lapping machine having a base, a lapping wheel having a planeoperative lapping face, means to impart a combined rotating and gyratingmovement to said lapping wheel, a vertically adjustable hollow spindle,a work head including a plurality of positively rotated work drivingspindles which is rotatably supported at the lower end of said hollowspindle, a spindle driving mechanism within said head including a driveshaft rotatably supported within said hollow spindle, gearing withinsaid head operatively conmeeting said shaft with all of said spindlespositively and simultaneously to rotate all of said spindles, ayieldable friction work driving member on each of said spindles,independent yieldable means normally to maintain each of said drivingmembers in frictional driving engagement with the work piece to rotatethe same while in lapping engagement with the lapping wheel at apredetermined pressure, and independent manually operable means towithdraw said spindles to an inoperative position to facilitat loadingand unloading Work pieces.

HERBERT S. INDGE. GEORGE E. HULBERT.

